Off The Bench by Chatterbox Sports

BEARCATS ARE BACK! Xavier Still Alive. Cincinnati NHL team? NFL Super Bowl! | OTB presented by UDF

What a weekend of college basketball both locally and around the country… We start with the Cincinnati Bearcats! The Cats were coming off one of their worst losses of the season to a West Virginia team that had 13 losses against just seven wins. They were headed to 15th-ranked Texas Tech, who did not lose a home game two years ago and had not lost a home game in 15 tries this year. Back and forth they went and it was like a movie we’d seen before… Cincinnati would compete in the Big 12… Just well enough to lose, But not this time. After Tech took the lead in the final minute, Simas Lukosius hit a jumper with 30 seconds to go. John Newman III capped things off with a dunk, and the Bearcats shocked the Red Raiders 75-72. Aziz Bandaago was huge in this one with a double-double, his first since the win at BYU. UC stands at 15-7…4-5 in the Big 12. They won't play again until Saturday against number 4 Houston… that's a 4 o’clock tip at the fifth-third arena. The Cougars lost at Kansas over the weekend. Then there's Xavier. One week ago they lost 43 points to UConn. They bounced back to beat St.John's at home. Then on Saturday, Quincy Olivari delivered one of the greatest performances in school history in a 93-68 rout of Depaul to move one game over .500 in the Big East for the first time all season. Olivari scored 43 points on 12-20 shooting with seven three-pointers. He becomes the first muskie to score 40 in a game since Trayvon Bluitt against UC six years ago. Olivari added 10 rebounds. X plays 3 of its next four at home including Creighton and Seton Hall. What is going on in Kentucky? Cal’s guys can score… No donut about that, but the idea is to outscore the other team. They don’t because they don’t guard anybody. They’ve allowed 197 points in back-to-back losses at home to Florida and then number 5 Tennessee on Saturday. Wildcats plays at Vanderbilt tomorrow night. Armando Bacot says the acc goes thru him these days, and it ain't braggin if you’re telling the truth. The Carolina big man had 25 points and 10 rebounds in the Tarheels 93-84 win over Duke at the Deam Smith Center Saturday night. Carolina shot 50 percent from the field …hit 9 three-pointers to go to 18-4 on the year. Who watched the Pro Bowl flag football game yesterday? There were 55 thousand people at the game in Orlando…The NFC beat the AFC 64-59. Ja'marr Chase scored a couple of touchdowns and after one, he pulled off an ochocinco. Took over for an ESPN cameraman. The Washington Commanders win is the Las Vegas Raiders loss… Apparently, the Raiders were trying to hire former Cardinals head coach Cliff Kinsbury as their offensive coordinator. They dragged their feet on a contract, and the Commanders swooped in and they hired Kingsbury. Washington added Joe Whitt Junior as their new defensive coordinator. The Dolphins hired Anthony Weaver as their new Defensive Coordinator. Weaver was the defensive line coach and associate head coach in Baltimore last year. The Ravens have lost their defensive coordinator, defensive backs coach, and now defensive line coach in this off-season.

NFL Coaching Carosel! College Hoops. Marty Brennaman! | OTB presented by UDF

Well if you root for any of the college basketball teams in our town, or our area, like me: you probably find yourself beating you head against the wall… You just don’t know which version of your team will show up on any given night. When i try and figure it out, I look at my 20 year old daughter and 18 year old son and it all becomes clear…..these are 18-23 year old young people, and they’re going to have really good days, and yes, even some bad days. UC…… the bearcats are in the big 12 conference for then first time. It’s college basketball’s best conference, of that, there is little doubt. They’ve played and competed in every single game. They lost four games this moth by a total of 13 points to the lies of kansas, oklahoma and and texas. They’ve beaten TCU and BYU, two nationally ranked teams. So you figure last night. Against a 7-13 west virginia team, that the Cats would roll into morgantown and get a win….. Nope. UC went up ten on back to back three pointers from day day thomas and then wilted down the stretch, getting outscored 19-5, in a 69-65 defeat. Yes you can say, and we did, that west virginia had beaten kansas and texas at home this season….they’ve also looked very bad in bad losses. This is simply a major blow for the bearcats at this point of the season. These are the games they need to win to get to the big dance in march. Next up for UC, a trip to lubbock to face number 15 texas tech . That game is saturday at 6 o’clock. Then there’s Xavier. Four days ago , the Muskies had their worst loss in a century…a century! 43 points to number one uconn. We wondered how they would bounce back with hall of fame coach rick pitino and st. johns coming to town last night. Well, the X men were up for the challenge. Especially their back court. Desmond Claude and quincy olivari tied with a game-high 23 points, dayvion mcknight finished with 19, in an 88-77 win. The muskies improve to 11-10 on the year, 5-5 in the big east. Next up, a trip to depaul saturday night for a 9:30pm tip. Womens hoops, Iowa superstar caitlin clark is zeroing in on becoming college basketball’s all-time leading scorer. Last night in her fifth straight 30 plus point game, clark passes former princeton high and ohio state star kelsey mitchell to move into number two all-time. In football, the seattle seahawks have gone from one of the oldest coaches in the league, to the youngest head coach ijn the league. Yesterday they hired baltimore defensive coordinator mike mcdonald to replace pete carroll. At just 36, mcdonald led a ravens defense that led the nfl in scoring, takeawys and sacks this season. Mcdonald interviewed with six different teams this off-season. Ravens defensive backs coach dennard wilson is the new dc for brian callahan in tennessee. The former bengal offensive coordinator fired the titans offensive line coach, which opens the door to hire his dad, bill callahan , who’s consiedred to be the very best oline coach in the game.

Super Bowl, Joe Burrow & Ravens Talk with Charlie Goldsmith & Brian Billick! | OTB presented by UDF

With a week off before the Super Bowl, college basketball takes center stage, and that is certainly the case right here in the Queen City. Both UC and Xavier are looking for a strong finish if they have any chance of making the NCAA tournament in March. We start with the Bearcats…they play at West Virginia tonight with a chance to even their Big 12 record at 4-4. WVU is a strange team to figure out. They are 7-13 on the year but at home, they’ve beaten the likes of Texas and Kansas, but last week they had road losses at UCF and Oklahoma State. Tip off tonight at 7 on ESPN plus. Will former Cincinnati and WVU head coach Bob Huggins show up for the game? He has several times already this season since being fired in October. For Xavier, legendary head coach Rick Pitino leads his St.John's team to Cintas Center tonight. The Muskies are trying to rebound from Sunday's 43-point loss at number 1 UCONN. X sits at 10-10 on the year. The Johnnies come in 13-7 fresh off a 20-point win over Villanova. That ended three-game losing streak which included one-point losses to Creighton and Marquette. Tip-off at 6:30 on FS1. Also tonight, Florida plays at Rupp Arena against number 10 Kentucky. Tipoff at 8 on ESPN. Last night, number 3 North Carolina was upset at Georgia Tech. Number 5 Tennessee falls to South Carolina. 14th-ranked Illinois beat Ohio State in Columbus 87-75. It appears Chris Holtman is on the hot seat as Buckeyes head coach….much was expected with this very talented roster and Ohio State is collapsing as this season wears on. Number 21 Dayton improves to 17-3 with a 22-point win over George Washington. Miami and Ohio university picked up Mac conference wins last night. Ad congratulations to coaching icon Tom Izzo. He picked up his 700th career win last night at Michigan State. A hall of fame inductee back in 2016, started as head coach of the Spartans back in 1995. NFL news a couple of hotly-pursued offensive coordinators are staying put rather than pursuing head coaching jobs. Ben Johnson will remain OC in Detroit. The same for Bobby Slowick in Houston. Both had been rumored for head coaching gigs in Seattle and Washington. John Angelos has agreed to sell the Baltimore Orioles to Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein.

NFL Championships Aftermath. Buy or Sell. Football Helmet Draft | OTB presented by UDF

Today the Chatterbox Crew all talk about the aftermath of the NFL Championships and what to expect in the Superbowl. We do a Buy or Sell on NFL. We draft Football Helmets NFL and College.

NFL Conference Championships Reactions! Another Patrick Mahomes SUPERBOWL?!? | OTB presented by UDF

Today the Chatterbox Crew all review the NFL Conference Championships. Patrick Mahomes goes to his 4th Superbowl in the last 5 years only ever losing to Tom Brady and Joe Burrow... Speaking of Joe Burrow did the Ravens vs Chiefs game cement anything for Burrow? Lamar choked in the game along with many other key contributors of the Ravens they still only lost by a TD and kept the game relatively close the whole time. On the NFC side, The Lions were ROLLING the 49ers leading at the half 24-7. The second-half momentum completely switched around as the 49ers got some lucky breaks and made the Lions pay with some of the decision-making and stupid turnovers. they would comeback and win 34-31.

NFL Conference Championships! Bearcats Saturday! Jay Morrison on Bengals Talk | OTB presented by UDF

Today the Chatterbox Crew all preview the NFL Conference Championships. We preview the Cincinnati Bearcats as well as they prepare to face UCF. Jay Morrison joins the program to discuss Cincinnati Bengals Talk.

Dan Pitcher new Bengals OC. Jim Harbaugh to the Chargers! Chad Brendel | OTB presented by UDF

Today the Chatterbox Crew all react to Dan Pitcher and the Bengals succession plan for their staff. We react to the Jim Harbaugh news that he is heading to the Los Angeles Chargers to go up against Patrick Mahomes twice every year. Talk NFL Playoff headlines and news. We have Chad Brendel on to talk Cincinnati Bearcat Basketball and some football news.

Baseball Hall Of Fame. Xavier and Cincinnati. NFL Buy or Sell. NFL Playoffs | OTB presented by UDF

Today the Chatterbox Crew all react to the baseball hall of fame and Joe Mauer getting inducted! Xavier lost to Creighton last night and Cincinnati Bearcats lost to Kansas we discuss where both teams stand at right now mid way through the Basketball season. We do a Buy or Sell NFL edition. Talk NFL Playoff headlines and news.

BRIAN CALLAHAN TO THE TITANS! Dan Pitcher Next? Marty Brennaman! Bearcats! | OTB presented by UDF

Today the Chatterbox Crew all react to Brian Callahan leaving for the Tennessee Titans Head Coaching Position! What is next for the Bengals? Is it as simple as Hiring Dan Pitcher? Or is it more complex than that? Brian Billick Joins the program at the top of the show to talk NFL Headlines and major news. Charlie Goldsmith joins the show to dive deeper into the loss of Brian Callahan and what the Bengals will look like going forward. Marty Brennaman joins in at 11:00 am to talk all things sports-related, Reds, College Hoops, and much more.

NFL Divisional Round Reactions! College Hoops! Cincinnati Bengals OC Leaving? | OTB presented by UDF

Today the Chatterbox Crew all React to the Divisional round of the NFL playoffs! CJ Stroud and the Texans ran through a buzz saw on Saturday. The Offense was limited and couldn't get anything going as Lamar Jackson SHREDDED the Defense. The San Francisco 49ers comeback from behind down in the 4th quarter to beat the Green Bay Packers 24-21 their first comeback win from being down in the 4th in the Kyle Shannahan era... 1-30 something??? The Jared Goff Lions hold off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Biggest game of the weekend Patrick Mahomes vs Josh Allen, and Chiefs vs Bills was fantastic. Back and forth all night unfortunately the game would be decided on a missed field goal...